Knitted garment.



H. A. CARTER.

KNlTTED GARMENT.

APPLICAUON FILED DEC. 9. 191|.

1 1 ,aww i 1 1 11 117 A l UNITED srafrns .PATENT oFFICE.

HORACE A. CARTER, 0F NEEDHAM-HEIGHTS, MASSACHUSETTS, lAS'SIGrNOIt, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO- THE WILLIAMv CARTER C0., OF NEEDHAM HEIGHTS, MASSACHU- SETTS, Al CORPORATION 0F MASSACHUSETTS. .l

KNITTED GARMENi'.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known'that I, HORACE A. CARM-:ma citizen of the United States, and a resident of Needham Heights, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Knitted Garments, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a. specification,` like characterson the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to knitted garments and particularly to knitted undershirts or undergarments.

Inyorder that the principle of the invention may be readilyunderstood, I have disclosed a single embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawing, wherein-r Figure 1 is a plan view of the upper portion of a knitted undershirt or union suit embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a detail A -thereof upon an enlarged scale; Fig. 3 is a y characteristic of my invention; Fig. 4 is an 25 top plan view of a portion of the preferred embodiment of elastic stretch limiting band underneath view thereof; and 5 is a section taken through the neck of the garment on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

Knitted garments and particularly knitted undershirts and union suits are customarily composed of yarn so knitted that the wales thereof run substantially lengthwise of the garment throughout substantially the entire body thereof, as indicated at 1 in Figs. 1 and 2, while the neck opening thereofis usually composed of a knitted strip, the wales whereof extend circumferentially of the neck as indicated at 2 in Fig. 2.l Such a neck opening is objectionable because it stretches unduly in use, so that this portion of the garment no longer fits the wearer properly. In accordance vwith my invention,

provide an expansible band extending circumferentially of the neck portion of the garment. This band is itself somewhat expansible, but only within well defined limits, which are materially less than those of the knitted neck portion of the shirt or other garment, thus preventing the neck from being stretched as heretofore to the elastic limits of the knitted material itself or to an extent approaching the same. This band is preferably elastically sewed by any suitable elastic sewing machine stitch to the neck portion of the garment. I secure the best re- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Julyr 6, 1915.

Application led December 9, 1911. Serial No. (564.,793.

.as indicated at 5in Fig. 42, is of double thickness.. A strip or band of woven material cut upon thebiasis moregexpansible longitudinally than a st-rip-orjba'nd so cut that the Warp or weft threads extend inv parallelism to the edges and endsthereof.

At the same time the expansibility of such a i hand isl materially less than that' ofv the knitted 'fabric' itself, and therefore the amount of stretch of the neck portion of the garment is limited by the amount of stretch of said bias band.

While preferably the neck portion of the garment is composed of a knitted strip 2,

the Wales thereof extending circumferentially of the neck, it is to be understood that the body portion 1 may be extended to the extreme edge of the neck and have the said bias band applied thereto, whereby the lateral stretch of the garment is limited as described. Within the scope of my invention, other openings, as for example, the wrist and ankle openings, may be similarly provided with the described stretch limiting band. The said band preferably extends circumferentially about the neck as indicated in Fig. 1 and preferably at the extreme upper edge thereof, as this is the point most liable to be' unduly stretched. It

will be observed that the neck band or neck portion of the garment is itself quite highly elastic and that the stretch limiting band 3, while being materially expansible, can itself be stretched only Within certain well defined limits, which are materially less than those of the knitted goods itself. Furthermore, the character of the stitches 5 whereby the band 3 is sewed to the neck portion of the garment is such that said stitches and band itself may stretch or give in use while still preventing undue stretch of the knitted portion of the garment. A knitted undergarment or similar article formed in accordance with my invention retains the proper shape of the neck or other opening and preserves the tight fitting character thereof. The bias strip may be expanded or distended by a pulling acti-on, and thus if the neck opening pand, nor will it substantially contract even after washing or laundrying.

Having thus described one illustrative embodiment of my invention, ll desire it to be understood that although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

Claims.

V1. A knitted garment having a highly expansible, opening-bordering portion and means to permit manual stretching of,said portion to a fixed limit and to e'ect the retention of said portion in said stretched condition, said means comprising a bias, woven strip secured to said portion and eX- tending circumferentially of said opening, said bias strip being materially expansible but to a well defined, predetermined limit materially less than the elastic limit of said opening-bordering portion and substantially ideama non-contractible'nafter expansion, whereby said strip and the opening bordering portion to which it is attached may be manually and permanently distended, thereby to obtain an opening permanently fitting the wearer.

2. A knitted garment having a highly expansible, opening-bordering portion the knitted wales thereof extending in a irection circumferentially of said opening, and means to permit manual stretching of said portion to a fixed limit and to effect the retention of said portionin said stretched oondition, said means comprising a bias, woven strip secured to the edge Wales of said openingand extending circumferentially thereof, said bias strip being materially expansible, but to a well defined, predetermined limit materially less than the elastic limit 'of said opening-bordering portion and substantially non-contractible after expansion or washing, whereby said strip and the opening bordering portion to which it is attached may be manually and permanently distended to obtain an opening tting the wearer.

lin testimony whereof, ll have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

. HORACE A. CARTIER. i Witnesses:

RALPH S. MACGOWN, EDGAR S. STANLEY. 

